Transition is published four times a year by the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities.
Subscriptions are $20/year.
Founding Editor
Richard A. Watson
Editor/Layout
Ann Vrlak
Cover Design
Fiona Gamiet
Proofreaders
Eleanor Pasholko
Shelley Hourston
Fundraising
Margaret Birrell
Alternate Formats
Val Stapleton
Eleanor Pasholko
Admin Assistant
Elena Kubaseck -
Berry
Contributors
Jane Dyson
Shelley Hourston
Mailout
Coordinators
Florence Corbett
Janis Walsh
Letters to the Editor ....................................................... 2
Editorial by Jane Dyson and Robin Loxton ............... 4
A New Act ...................................................................... 6
Persons with Disabilities Benefit .............................. 8
Benefit Rates are Inadequate ................................... 11
Medical Costs .............................................................. 15
Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to Employment ............................................................. 16
Service Delivery and Accountability ...................... 25
We welcome articles, graphics, creative writing, et al. The editors reserve the right to edit and/or withhold material from publication.
BC Coalition of People with Disabilities
204-456 W. Broadway,
Vancouver, BC V5Y 1R3
(604) 875-0188 • TTY (604) 875-8835
Fax (604) 875-9227
Transition only: trans@bccpd.bc.ca
BCCPD: feedback@bccpd.bc.ca
We’re glad to see Transition material republished, with credit to “Transition, BC
Coalition of People with Disabilities” and the edition date.
Editorial Statement: The views and opinions expressed within the pages of Transition are not necessarily those held by the total membership or Board of Directors. The material presented herein is meant to be thought-provoking and to promote dialogue.
Transition is a forum to share information within the disability community, and with government and the general public. It is also an opportunity for people with disabilities to display creative talent.
Disclaimer: Any firm or company advertising in
Transition is for our readers’ benefit and does not constitute an endorsement by the BCCPD.
In memoriam: James Tildesley ................................... 3
A Flash in Time VI
by Kathlean Pronovost ................ 7
New Funding for CAYA ................................................. 9
Justice Delayed Once More for Woodlands
Survivors by Jane Dyson ...........................................
The Cost of Eating in BC ............................................. 20
Bill 29: A green Light for Representation
Agreements .................................................................. 21
Important Changes to the Ministry’s
Requirements for People with Disabilities ............ 23
The Sun Always Rises ................................................ 28
Who is Responsible for Peace? by Ted Kuntz ........ 10
On the Road to Happiness: 8 Tips for
Finding Your Way
19 by Shelley Hourston ................... 12
Privacy Statement
The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD) respects and upholds an individual’s right to privacy and the protection of their personal information. The BCCPD is committed to ensuring compliance with British Columbia’s
Personal Information and Protection of Privacy Act (PIPA). The BCCPD will inform people what personal information it collects about people and why. It will store information securely and identify who has access to the information it collects. It will inform people what information will be shared, with whom, and why. BCCPD Privacy Officer: Mei Ng
(604) 875-0188; Alternate: Jane Dyson (604) 872-1278; privacyofficer@bccpd.bc.ca.
Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No.40051676
Winter 2007 Transition
1

2
BCCPD received this letter in response to the Fall 2007 Transition: “Will justice ever be served for Woodlands
Survivors?”
D
EAR
W
OODLANDS
S
URVIVORS
:
I am shocked and outraged over the abuse and total disregard for each person who suffered from their time spent at Woodlands. I encourage each of you to walk tall and proud and keep fighting for yourselves.
I have worked proudly with and for people with different needs and disabilities for 25 years. At the beginning of my career, the deinstitutionalization of Woodlands occurred and I felt that this decision was terrific. Now I work as a life skills coordinator for a Native Indian Band near 100 Mile House. Here we have a
very supportive program that teaches people with special needs how to live as independently as possible, including informing them of their rights.
I personally have learned so much from people who have various disabilities and I would not have traded all the life lessons that they have taught me for anything. I tell my clients that, not only are staff, family and friends assisting you, but you also give gifts and have important lessons to teach the people who cross your path.
I think society should have more reverence and respect for your abilities and look beyond your “differences.” I really feel ashamed of how some parts of our society have treated you.
I want to add my own and staff’s support to your cause and fight for justice. Our name in the native language is Elkstwecw which means
“working together.” Please add our name to your list of supporters.
K
IND REGARDS
,
T
RISH
H
OY
E
LKSTWECW
C
OORDINATOR
–C
ANIM
L
AKE
B
AND
D
EAR
E
DITOR
:
You really don’t know the stress and frustration I went through for many months trying to qualify for disability benefits. A couple hours with one of your advocates changed everything! I got my disability within weeks.
T
HANK YOU
,
THANK YOU
,
THANK YOU
.
M
ICHELLE ■
Winter 2007 Transition

It is with deep sadness that we report Jim
Tildesley’s death on December 2, 2007.
Jim was known and appreciated for his humour, empathy and sense of fairness. This served him well during his successful career with
Johnson Terminals of Nanaimo and as the North
Shore Regional Representative for the Alzheimer
Society of BC.
Despite dealing with illness in his later years, he was always forward-thinking and very active.
He enjoyed painting, gardening, cooking, off-road camping, reading, crosswords and walking his big gentle dog, Ben.
Jim is survived and forever loved by his wife
Joanne Taylor, daughter Kate Brauser, son-in-law
Tom Brauser, granddaughter Anna and grandson Sam. His friends will miss him dearly and caregivers throughout BC that he helped over the years will feel the loss.
Jim wished that any condolences be in the form of a donation to the charity he supported in so many ways, the
Representation Agreement Resource Centre
(RARC), 411 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC
V6B 1X4.
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BC Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch
BC Hydro Employees Community Services Fund
Committee
BC Medical Services Foundation
BC Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance
BC Nurses’ Union
BC Paraplegic Foundation
BC Rehab Foundation
Centre for Emergency Preparedness, Public Health
Agency of Canada
City of Vancouver
CKNW Orphans’ Fund
Emergency Management Division, BC Ministry of Health
Health Sciences Association of BC
Home Medical Equipment Dealers Association
Homelessness Partnering Strategy, Ministry of Human
Resources and Social Development Canada
Kinsmen Foundation of BC and Yukon
The Law Foundation of British Columbia
Legal Services Society of British Columbia
Office of Disability Issues, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Provincial Health Services Authority
Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program
Rick Hansen Institute Neurotrauma Community Fund
Royal Bank of Canada
Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Association
Status of Women Canada
TELUS BC
Trial Lawyers Association of BC
United Way of the Lower Mainland
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
The Vancouver Foundation
Variety - The Children’s Charity of BC
Village Pub
Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia
WorkSafe BC
The www.TylerDawson.com Group of Companies
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Winter 2007 Transition
3

4 by Jane Dyson and
Robin Loxton
B ritish Columbia’s income assistance and support programs are not meeting the needs of our citizens with disabilities. Most British
Columbians believe income assistance ensures a reasonable degree of dignity, safety and health for people who need it. Unfortunately, it is falling far short of fulfilling this purpose.
Here is a bit of background on how we got to where we are today. Over the last few years, major legislative and policy changes have drastically eroded people with disabilities’ access to needed supports. Advocates in our
Advocacy Access Program see more people with disabilities seeking support from a system that is focused not on need, but on gate-keeping and costcutting.
The legislation governing disability benefits, the Employment and
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities
Act (EAPWD), was introduced in 2002.
The new Act left out the Preamble from the previous legislation, the
Disability Benefits Program Act (DBPA).
That short statement described benefits as a social safety net and the importance of treating people with disabilities with “fairness, dignity and sensitivity to their diverse needs as individuals.” And when we lost this
Preamble, we also saw these values disappear from the disability benefits system.
In 2002, the province announced its intention to reassess the eligibility of
19,000 people on permanent disability benefits. Eventually 14,000 people were reassessed using a daunting and difficult 23-page application form– resulting in the closure of only 46 cases.
Since 2002, the province has cut the Ministry of Employment and
Income Assistance (MEIA) budget by more than $500 million. Scores of
Ministry offices have closed across BC.
British Columbians no longer keep the same Employment and Income
Assistance Worker (EAW) who is familiar with their case and individual needs. Now they must speak to different EAWs when they contact their local office, and explain their disability and their needs over and over. Or, they must struggle to access what they need by computer or phone if the
MEIA office in their area has been closed.
The disability benefits application process has also become much more demanding. Before people can submit their application to MEIA, they are subject to a number of hurdles, including a 3-week wait after they first contact MEIA. The many new procedural barriers involved in proving eligibility for benefits, and the many delays, have greatly increased the level of anxiety and overall hardship for people who need income supports.
Those who establish their eligibility for the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefit, often after more than one attempt, are forced to live on grossly inadequate benefits–hundreds of dollars less than the amount estimated as the bare minimum for shelter and support for a person without disabilities. People with disabilities who rely on income support live restricted lives filled with anxiety, insecurity and
Winter 2007 Transition

the fear of being reassessed and losing their inadequate benefits.
This year, the BC Coalition of
People with Disabilities (BCCPD) updated its 2005 brief Who Benefits?
as part of a province-wide effort to improve BC’s disability benefits system so that it truly meets the needs of
British Columbians. The brief was circulated to community organizations and has been endorsed by 160 organizations. This Transition features some of the most important issues from that brief and lists all of its recommendations. If your organization agrees with our recommendations, you can endorse this campaign by copying and sending in the letter of support on the inside back cover.
BCCPD is calling for major change in four areas: benefits rates, the PWD benefit, the Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to Employment
(PPMB) benefit, and service delivery and accountability. Also, we are proposing an expansion of medical coverage and, most important of all, a new Act to govern disability benefits.
We know that the current system of disability benefits is not what British
Columbians want. We need new legislation so people with disabilities can have secure income supports and live as healthy lives as possible with dignity and independence in their communities.
Robin Loxton and Jane Dyson are Co-Directors of BCCPD’s Advocacy Access Program
■
Winter 2007 Transition
5

In BC, separate provincial legislation for people with disabilities needing income support is just over a decade old.
Although the 1995 Disability Benefits
Program Act (DBPA) was not perfect, the community saw it as a move in the right direction. The disability community had long argued that its needs were different from those of people without disabilities seeking income support. The community believed then and now that it is crucial to have separate legislation that recognizes and respects these differences.
When the Employment and
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities
Act (EAPWD) replaced the DBPA in
2002, the community was extremely disappointed. The EAPD contains a narrower definition of disability that, among other things, no longer recognizes the increased cost of living with a disability as part of the eligibility criteria. Also, the disability designation is no longer permanent.
After more than five years of experience with the Act, it is clear that the legislation and policy has made it more difficult for people to access assistance. BCCPD is calling on the provincial government to consult the disability community to create a new
Act governing disability benefits: an Act that will enable people with disabilities who need provincially-administered income support to live with dignity and independence.
The new Act should include:
• A new definition of disability
• Disability as a permanent designation
• Recognition of the many barriers encountered by people with disabilities in their quest for independence
• Recognition of the importance of
• accessible services
• Flexibility in addressing the diverse and evolving needs of the disability community
A broad range of disability supports and programs, not limited to employment, that allow people with disabilities to realize their potential
• Accountability to the principle of ensuring that British Columbians with disabilities receive the support they need to live with health, safety, dignity and the independence to participate in our communities.
Recommendation
That the provincial government work with the disability community to design a new Act governing the provision of provincial disability benefits.
Recommendation
Include a Preamble in the new disability benefits Act that outlines the philosophy behind the disability programs and reinforces the values of respect, dignity and fairness in responding to the diverse needs of individual British Columbians.
■
6
Winter 2007 Transition

Thank you to RBC Foundation for their generous donation of $5,000 to the Kids on the Block puppet troupe. Funds go towards the Kids on the
Block Performance Subsidy Program.
To book a Kids on the Block show or for more information, contact our Coordinator at tel: 604-
875-0188 or email: kob@bccpd.bc.ca. You can also learn all about the Kids on the BCCPD’s website at www.bccpd.bc.ca, under Ongoing Programs.
The Kids on the Block receive funding from the following organizations, companies and government departments. We are very grateful for their support.
Founding Partner
The Kinsmen Foundation of BC & Yukon
Sustaining Partners
British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety and
Solicitor General, Gaming Policy and Enforcement
Branch
BC Rehab Foundation
TELUS BC
Performance Partners
BC Government and Service Employees’ Union
BC Nurses’ Union
CKNW Orphans’ Fund
RBC Foundation
Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Association of BC
by Kathlean Pronovost
Erin Goodman (far right) and Stanley Jones (far left) from the
RBC, Denman and Barclay Branch, present a $5,000 cheque to the Kids.
Winter 2007 Transition
7

8 who benefits?
W hen the Persons with Disabilities
(PWD) definition was introduced with the 2002 EAPWD Act, one of the most important changes was the addition of a clause giving the Minister the power to rescind the disability benefits designation. In other words, a person’s disability designation was no longer permanent.
The Ministry has drafted policy that can require PWD recipients to re-apply for their disability designation every two, three or five years. This means that, if the policy is implemented, recipients can be asked to complete the 23-page PWD application form in order to keep their benefits.
People with disabilities should not have to suffer the indignity of
“proving” their disability over and over again. Our experience in BC has shown that an ongoing review of disability designations is not only administratively unnecessary, it is also harmful to the people who are subject to the review.
The temporary disability designation acts as a disincentive to
PWD recipients who may want to become more independent by pursuing vocational programs, volunteering or working.
Some medical conditions, for example, have “good periods” and
“bad periods.” The person may be able to work or volunteer temporarily, but need to return to benefits if their condition worsens. The fear of losing the disability designation and the medical coverage attached to it means that people are less likely to attempt other options.
People need the security of knowing they can return to benefits if or when they need to.
Recommendation
That the PWD designation be permanent.
■
Winter 2007 Transition

who benefits?
Terri was refused disability status in spite of her multiple disabilities.
Terri has a congenital knee problem that has required surgeries and needs more surgical treatment.
In a Catch-22 situation that people with disabilities often encounter, her doctor is unwilling to operate again until Terri has more physiotherapy for her knees.
However, Terri cannot afford physiotherapy, and treatments are not covered because she is on regular income assistance with reduced coverage for physiotherapy.
~
Sarinder was moving out of a long term care facility. She was receiving Canada Pension Plan
Disability, topped up $300 a month by provincial benefits. Because of a mistake a social worker made on a form, Sarinder did not receive the
$300 top-up for three months. When the mistake was caught, the correction applied from the month it was discovered, not to the three missed months. However, if a clerical error had caused an overpayment for three months,
Sarinder would have been required to pay back the extra money received.
The BC Association for Individualized Technology and Supports (BCITS) and the Communication
Assistance for Young Adults program (CAYA) would like to thank Minister Claude Richmond and
Minister Carole Taylor for a $4.2-million grant announced on October 4.
This funding will help ensure that young adults leaving the school system to pursue interests in the community will continue to be provided with the communication devices and supports they need.
Approximately 50 people attended the announcement, including Minister Richmond,
Minister Taylor, Simon Cox, Executive Director of
BCITS and Jeff Riley, manager of CAYA.
Minister Taylor also proclaimed October 4,
2007, as International Awareness Day for
Alternative and Augmentative Communication.
Melinda Rundel and Ashleigh Dukoff used their speech generating devices to make speeches.
CAYA’s mandate is to address the transition period to adulthood for young people with severe communication disabilities. CAYA works to ensure that eligible individuals have access to the communication tools and professional support to enable them to make the best of their adult life.
The CAYA project offers services to individuals in transition in the four areas of assessment, equipment, training and resources, and follow-up.
#105 – 1750 West 75th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6P 6G2
Tel: 604-261-9450
Fax: 604-261-2256 www.cayabc.org
Winter 2007 Transition
9

by Ted Kuntz
The festive season is upon us. At this time of year, more than any other, we yearn for peace. Our singers sing songs of peace. Our greetings invite peace. Yet, the peace we so desperately yearn for often eludes us.
What is it that prevents us from experiencing peace in our world, our cities, our homes and our hearts? Why is it that the peace we so desperately desire is so rarely experienced?
Maybe a better question is, “Who is responsible for peace?” My own journey to experience peace revealed how little I knew about creating peace.
For much of my life, I held the assumption that peace would come from others. That peace would occur when world leaders chose peace rather than war. As a consequence my responsibility for creating peace was little more than that of an impatient bystander or a vocal cheerleader. Years of living without peace, however, made it painfully clear that this path to peace was an illusion–that my strategy of how to experience peace was flawed.
I now know if I am to experience peace, then it will come from me. That it will come from my efforts, rather than the efforts of others. I am responsible for the peace I cherish.
Peace begins with me. Gandhi said it best: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
But what does this mean? How is the experience of peace my responsibility? The fact is that my emotional state is a direct consequence of my mental state.
Happiness or sadness, trust or fear, hope or despair are created in my mind by the kind of story I tell myself or by the stories I allow to be told to me. My experience of life is determined by the meaning I assign to life. If I want to experience peace, then it is my responsibility to take charge of the meanings that I assign, to take charge of the stories I tell myself and allow to be told to me.
I now realize I took little responsibility for the stories I told myself. I often accepted, without reservation or reflection, the stories imparted by others. I am now clear why peace eluded me. It is because I acted as though I was not responsible for creating peace. I acted as if I was powerless.
If I want to experience peace, I need to take responsibility for creating peace. I need to claim my power as a storyteller. I need to monitor the stories I tell myself. I need to be vigilant in telling stories of compassion and understanding, of respect and dignity, and of the right of all species to live in harmony, rather than stories of fear and scarcity, of us against them, or of the superiority of one race, one nation, or one species over another.
From an article by Ted Kuntz, a psychotherapist in private practice in Vancouver. Ted is also a father of a child with disabilities. For more information, please go to http://www.
peacebeginswithme. ca/.
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Winter 2007 Transition
10

who benefits?
The assistance amounts that people receive from PWD and PPMB are grossly inadequate.
BC’s income assistance rates fall far below what is needed for a basic level of support. The Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC) has determined that the minimum amount a person without disabilities needed to live in BC in 2005 was
$598.99 for support (this allows
$197.79 for food) and $634.13 for shelter for a total of $1233.12 a month.
People with disabilities need more support because of the extra costs of living with a disability. However, a single person on PWD receives only
$531.42 for support and $375 for shelter for a monthly total of $906.42.
A single person on PPMB receives
$282.92 for support and $375.00 for shelter: $657.92 a month.
In Greater Vancouver, it is obvious that the $375 shelter amount makes it virtually impossible to find housing, let alone housing that accommodates a person with disabilities. The shelter allowance has not kept pace with housing costs and people continue to have to dig into their food budgets to pay their rent and heating costs.
We urge the province to increase all social assistance rates to an amount consistent with those that SPARC has estimated would provide a reasonable level of support.
Basic support
Shelter
Total for single person
$945
$634
$1,579
We are recommending that the PPMB benefit be replaced with the
Temporarily Excused category. This category is explained in the article on
PPMB on page 16.
Basic support
Shelter
Total for single person
$697
$634
$1,331
Recommendation
Increase and index-link all benefit rates to reflect the real cost of adequate housing, food and living with a disability. For example, the PWD rate for a single person should be $1,579 and for the Temporarily Excused rate
(replacing PPMB) for a single person should be $1,331.
Ken knows he is fortunate to live in decent housing in a seniors’ residence. However, there have been rent increases each year–
Ken and the shelter allowance rate has not kept up.
Ken has to make up the increased rent out of his support allowance.
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Winter 2007 Transition
11

12
BY SHELLEY HOURSTON
Have you ever wondered about happiness? When we’re young, we assume that we’ll be happy when we grow up. Young people in North
American culture typically consider happiness a byproduct of achieving something else–a high paying job or notoriety, for example.
Over the years, as I worked to achieve my goals, “older people” would remind me to enjoy today and not to live only for the future. Someone used to say to me, “Life is what happens to us while we’re making plans.” Nah, I would think to myself. I’m going to be so happy when I finish my degree … when I get a terrific job … when I …
Now, as the years pass, and I’ve enjoyed many wonderful successes along with some disappointments, I’ve noticed that happiness sometimes pops up in the most unexpected places. Sometimes you have to stop and listen carefully as if happiness were a delicate birdcall carried on the wind. Other times, it’s clear that you’ve got happiness wrapped around you like a fleece blanket right out of the dryer.
Life and happiness happen while we’re making plans. If you’re too focused on what you think should happen in the future, happiness might just float right on past you.
Learning about the ways that people cultivate happiness, despite the hurdles in life, has become a bit of a hobby for me. I’ve talked to colleagues all over the world about how they bounce back after being derailed by unexpected and unwelcome events.
An exciting new field called positive psychology is generating research showing that some very simple tools and techniques can increase our chances of experiencing happiness– today. But there is a catch. We have to realize that we hold the key.
Is it possible that we have more control over our happiness than we think? Check out these tips for recognizing and nurturing happiness.
I’ve personally tested tips 1 to 7 and they work. And as far as tip number 8 goes, I know that I am already very lucky indeed, but it you hear of a class, call me!
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Life and happiness happen while we’re making plans.
If you’re too focused on what you think should happen in the future, happiness might just float right on past you.
Winter 2007 Transition

When you’ve hit a rough patch in your life, recognizing your strengths may be difficult to do. Researchers who study resilience in people agree on the importance of acknowledging that you have many strengths and capabilities.
Make a list of your accomplishments
(on paper–not in your head!). Ask friends and family to help and keep your list handy so that you can review and add to it. No achievement is too small for this exercise!
People often believe that they are a prisoner of their past–whether it’s poverty, abuse, lack of opportunity or
“a failure.” Researchers have proven repeatedly that previous experience is not an automatic indicator of the future. However, our mistaken belief that we cannot change limits us. You can break free… see below.
According to David Myers,* “If social psychologists have proven anything during the last 30 years, they have proven that the actions we take leave a residue inside us. Every time we act, we amplify the underlying idea or tendency behind it. … We are as likely to act ourselves into a new way of thinking as to think ourselves into a new way of acting.” When we take on a new role or do something for the first time, we feel awkward–like an imposter. But after we’ve had an opportunity to become more familiar with the new activity, we begin to feel at home.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Researchers agree that calling on friends,
R esilience is the ability to
“bounce back” like a spring after being stretched or neighbours and family is a critical tool used by resilient people. As you know from personal experience, it feels good when compressed. Experts say that resilience is a person’s ability to cope well with trauma, tragedy and other stressful events. It’s also what helps us deal with more common stressors like relationship difficulties, someone asks you to help out if you can.
Asking people to return the favour lets them know that you value what they can offer too. Studies show that people who weather difficult situations the best are workplace issues or disability.
The good news is that resilience is not something that you’re born with–everyone can learn to be resilient. Building a strong support network, setting realistic goals for yourself and recognizing your strengths are those who have (or can develop) a good some of the ways to increase your resilience.
support network.
Barbara Fredrickson, a
The American Psychological
Association’s brochure called The
Road to Resilience offers more good tips. Visit http://tinyurl.
psychologist at the
University of North com/nulfx or call Shelley at
BCCPD for a copy.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Carolina at Chapel Hill, has become well known for her “broaden-and-build theory.”
Fredrickson’s research shows that positive emotions such as joy, gratitude or contentment, not only make us feel good in the moment, but they also change patterns of thought and improve coping and our sense of well being over the long term. Something as simple as watching a funny movie or noting the positive things that happened in your day can
“broaden-and-build” your positive outlook in the future.
continued on next page
Winter 2007 Transition
13

Happiness, continued from previous page
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
An exciting new field called positive psychology is generating research showing that some very simple tools and techniques can increase our chances of experiencing happiness–today.
Here’s more from Barbara Fredrickson.
She says that negative emotions are important and have a role to play. For example, anger promotes seeking justice. The down side is that negative emotions can linger and impact our mood as well as our heart rate and blood pressure. Fredrickson’s research ^ shows that evoking the positive emotions mentioned above in tip number 5 is the most effective way to
“undo the lingering after-effects of negative emotions.” What a bonus!
Last year, 855 students signed up for the first Positive Psychology class at
Harvard University. Instructor Tal Ben-
Shahar is a well-known figure in the blossoming positive psychology movement and author of Happier:
Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and
Lasting Fulfillment. Ben-Shahar’s tips include: accept your emotions–both positive and negative; simplify your life and slow down; and develop a practice of gratitude–don’t take the good things in your life for granted.
+
Richard Wiseman is a psychologist in the UK who studies the nature of luck.
Following his ten-year Luck Project,
Wiseman said, “… lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create selffulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.” Wiseman wanted to test whether the average person could learn to be lucky. After one month of
Luck School, 80 percent of the participants were happier and luckier!
“Unlucky people had become lucky, and lucky people had become even luckier!” ~
Notes
* David G. Myers. “The Secrets of
Happiness.” Psychology Today (July 1992).
Available at: http://tinyurl.com/2zhydz.
Myers is also author of A Quiet World:
Living with Hearing Loss. Visit his website for more: http://www.davidmyers.org.
^ Barbara Fredrickson. Center for Positive
Organizational Scholarship. Ross School of
Business. University of Michigan. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/249f25.
+ Read more at Tal Ben-Shahar’s website: http://talbenshahar.com.
~ Richard Wiseman. “The Luck Factor.”
Skeptical Inquirer (May/June 2003).
Available at: http://tinyurl.com/298xf3. Read more about Wiseman’s research and books, including The Luck Factor: Changing
Your Luck, Changing Your Life: The Four
Essential Principles at http://www.
richardwiseman.com.
Shelley Hourston is a librarian and Program
Director for the BC Coalition of People with
Disabilities’ AIDS & Disability Action Program,
Wellness & Disability Initiative, and Health
Literacy Network. Contact her by phone at 604-
875-0188 or email wdi@bccpd.bc.ca. She also writes about happiness, success and building life stories at http://www.
shourstonandassociates.com.
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14
Winter 2007 Transition

who benefits?
PWD recipients who leave the system for employment, or because their
Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) benefits are higher than the provincial rate, can keep their extended medical coverage. However, if the person leaves the system for other reasons, their extended medical coverage can be discontinued. For example, people with disabilities may lose their medical coverage because they go back to school or get married. This is a huge disincentive for people who are trying to make some positive changes in their lives.
dollars a month on their medical needs. As a result, there are many people with disabilities who spend a substantial part of their very low income on their health and have no access to the supplements that disability benefits recipients can receive.
Recommendation
Ministry-funded extended health coverage must be more widely available to people with disabilities on low income.
Recommendation
Everyone with the PWD designation should retain their medical coverage if they become ineligible for provincial disability assistance.
There are people with disabilities on low income who have never been granted the PWD designation. They are denied MEIA-funded health coverage because their monthly incomes are slightly higher than the disability benefits rate of $906 per month. For example, a person with a modest disability pension of $925 per month can be denied the medical coverage a
PWD recipient has, even if that person shows they are spending hundreds of
John has a severe disability and needs about $200 of
John medical supplies every month. He has never been on disability assistance. His income is just over $900 per month. He has money in his bank account (about $2,000), but he owes several thousand on his credit card because he has been using his credit cards to buy medical supplies and has reached his credit limit. John applied to
MEIA for health coverage to pay for the medical supplies. MEIA denied his request on the grounds that he still had resources available to him to pay for the medical supplies and he had not established a lifethreatening health need.
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Winter 2007 Transition
15

who benefits?
16
T he Persons with Persistent and
Multiple Barriers to Employment
(PPMB) benefit replaced the Disability
Benefits Level I (DBI) benefit in 2002.
PPMB is intended for people who are unable to work because of severe and multiple barriers to employment. They must reapply for the benefit at least every two years.
An applicant’s doctor must complete a Medical Report that shows the person has a medical condition preventing them from looking for, accepting or continuing employment.
And the doctor must show that the person’s medical condition has lasted at least one year, or has occurred frequently in the past year, and is likely to continue or reoccur for at least two more years.
In addition to the Medical Report, the person must take an Employability
Interview designed to help MEIA understand the person’s barriers to employment.
Although the benefit rates for PPMB and DBI were the same when the
PPMB was first introduced, major changes were made to the eligibility criteria. As a result, people who would have qualified for DBI do not qualify for
PPMB.
The DBI definition of disability was based on whether or not a person needed assistance and/or had extra costs because of their disability. The
PPMB definition is based on how long the person has been on assistance, whether their medical condition prevents them from working and whether steps have been taken to overcome barriers to employment. This shift from need to employability has greatly reduced access to support for many people with disabling conditions.
PPMB applicants must also have received income assistance for 12 of the 15 months immediately prior to when they apply. People receiving basic income assistance are eligible for only very limited medical coverage during this period. A person who has been working, but can no longer do so because of a medical condition, cannot access PPMB when they need it.
Winter 2007 Transition

Applying for PPMB benefits or trying to keep them can be like trying to manoeuvre through a minefield. For example:
• PPMB applicants must ask their doctor to explain why they cannot work. MEIA, however, also takes the position that doctors cannot decide about employability and often denies PPMB applications and reconsiderations claiming that the Ministry has the sole right to determine employability.
• To qualify for PPMB, applicants must prove that they cannot work.
At the same time, PPMB has a
$500 earnings exemption. If a
PPMB recipient makes use of this exemption to supplement their
$658 monthly benefit, they risk being turned down when they reapply for PPMB, if MEIA believes they are capable of work or training.
• When people lose PPMB, they usually go on basic income assistance of $610 per month and no longer have access to important health supplements. They are also deemed “employable” by MEIA.
However, the job programs available to employable welfare recipients are not designed to help people with significant health limitations to overcome their barriers to employment. So, people who are cut off PPMB do not have a realistic chance of leaving income assistance.
Recommendation
Replace the Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to Employment
(PPMB) benefit with the Temporarily
Excused category and set the rate for a single person at $1,331. The
Temporarily Excused category would provide the same medical coverage and benefits as PPMB, as well as the annual bus pass.
Edith, a 61-year-old woman, has been on assistance since the mid-80s. She has
Edith received PPMB/DB1 for over
8 years because of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and diabetes. When the Ministry reviewed her file, it revoked Edith’s PPMB because it determined she might be capable of some kind of sedentary employment. Edith has not worked since
1985, has no marketable job skills and her doctor stated in writing that she is unable to work because of her medical condition.
Edith appealed the decision to discontinue her PPMB benefits, but the denial decision was upheld primarily because the Ministry said there were employment programs to help Edith find employment. The program
Edith was referred to told her that she was not a suitable candidate because of her medical restrictions.
Edith had to begin the application process all over again.
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Winter 2007 Transition
17

18
People who cannot speak and who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) experience a high risk of abuse in their lives.
A new resource, Pointing it Out - Safety for people who have communication disabilities, looks at unique issues for people who use AAC: their rights, safety and access to community, social, health and legal services. Eight adults who use AAC make recommendations to parents, youth, service providers, attendants, police, counselors, health care and legal professionals. Most especially, their messages are intended for other adults who use AAC and who may be experiencing abuse or who may feel isolated and vulnerable. Pointing it Out includes a 50-page booklet and DVD.
For more information on abuse prevention and on the work of
ACCPC, please visit www.accpc.ca.
Winter 2007 Transition
19

by Jane Dyson
T he possibility of resolution has been further delayed by a recent court decision. In November, Justice M. Anne
Rowles, allowed the law firm Poyner Baxter to appeal a court order removing it as class counsel in the law suit against the provincial government.
As regular Transition readers will know, in 2006, the
Woodlands survivors rejected a settlement based on a dehumanizing point system that had been secretly negotiated between Poyner Baxter and the government’s lawyers. The survivors were then successful in June 2007 when Justice Brian Butler ordered Poyner Baxter removed as class counsel stating that the law firm had ignored the wishes of the survivors and failed in its duty of loyalty. Now
Justice Rowles’ decision allows Poyner Baxter to appeal its removal as class counsel. No date has been set for the appeal.
A number of Woodlands survivors, including both class co-representatives, have asked David Klein of Klein Lyons to represent them. The trial, which had been scheduled to begin in January 2008 and to run for 27 weeks, has been cancelled until legal counsel for the class has been decided.
The We Survived Woodlands Group’s most recent request to meet with a representative of the provincial government to discuss an out-of-court settlement with a common experience compensation payment was rejected.
A letter from the office of the Attorney-General stated that,
“While the province understands the contention that there may have been some instances of abuse, it remains the position of the province that all claims for abuse must be addressed and resolved in accordance with the law and on the basis of legal liability.” This view of what happened to the children at Woodlands School is contradicted by the findings of the 2001 report The Need to Know: Administrative Review of Woodlands School by former BC Ombudsman Dulcie
McCallum. In her report, prepared at the request of the
Ministry of Children and Families (now the Ministry of Children and Family
Development), McCallum informed the government that systemic physical and sexual abuse of Woodlands residents had occurred.
The government lawyers have now also applied to have any former residents who left the school prior to
August 1, 1974, removed from the class and disqualified from participating in the law suit. Many of the former residents who would be removed, if the government’s motion is successful, are among the oldest and most vulnerable of the survivors. It would also disqualify one of the two class corepresentatives, Bill McArthur, who was discharged from Woodlands only a few days before August 1, 1974.
Despite these setbacks, the
Woodlands survivors remain determined. They fill the public seating at every hearing, bearing witness for themselves and the former residents who cannot be there. And they remain adamant that everyone who spent their childhood in Woodlands suffered and that they should not be revictimized.
Survivors recently became aware that Attorney General Wally Oppal was involved with this case before he became Attorney General. In 2004, he sat on a three-member appeal panel that found in favour of Poyner Baxter’s application to represent the Woodlands survivors.
For more information, visit the BCCPD’s website under Current Campaigns and Issues.
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Winter 2007 Transition
19

A new web presence–disaboom.com– wants to “blow the doors off” stereotypes. It is a website that combines lifestyle and medical information, discussion boards, social networking, a career centre and a dating site.
Conversations range from a mother worried that her two-year-old isn’t yet walking with his prosthesis to advice on sex after a spinal cord injury and the fine art of “signaoke” or karaoke for the hearing impaired.
There are also lively discussions about all sorts of topics that have nothing to do with disability.
Visit www.disaboom.com.
In the last edition of Transition (Fall
2007), one name was left out of the
We Survived Woodlands group photo.
Apologies to Debbie Brkich who, along with all the other members, came all the way to the BCCPD office to sit for the group photo.
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• Poverty is a reality for many British
Columbians, despite a booming economy.
• The province has the highest child poverty rate in the country.
• More than 76,500
British Columbians used food banks in
2007; almost 28,000 of these were children.
• For recipients of income assistance considered employable, shelter and support allowances have remained virtually the same since 2001.
• Minimum wage has remained at $8 since
2001, while the costs of living have risen.
The Cost of Eating in BC 2007 report demonstrates that income assistance is too low to pay rent and buy healthy food.
Each year, dietitians throughout BC price a basket of food at a number of grocery stores using a standardized food costing tool called the
National Nutritious Food Basket (NFB). The basket contains 66 basic foods that require preparation. The cost of the food basket is then compared to disposable income for a number of family scenarios.
For those on income assistance, or with a low earned income, shelter and food costs consume an unreasonable proportion.
To see the full report, please go to the Dietitians of Canada website at http://www.dieticians.ca/ resources/resourcesearch. asp?fn=view& contentid=1944. You can also find the link on the
BCCPD website, at In the Community/News and
Events.
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Winter 2007 Transition
20

by Joanne Taylor
On October 22, 2007, the government passed Bill 29, the Adult Guardianship and
Planning Statutes
Amendment Act. The opposition also supported the Bill. Bill 29 brings stability and support to the law and practice of
Representation
Agreements after years of uncertainty.
In the words of the Attorney
General who introduced the Bill: “Bill
29 will amend the Representation
Agreement Act to make
Representation Agreements more accessible. They will continue to be the only instrument in British Columbia under which adults can appoint someone else–that is, a representative–to make health care and personal care decisions on their own behalf. Representation Agreements will be easier and less costly to make.
Unnecessary execution requirements, such as the need to consult with a lawyer, will be eliminated.”
The major change for
Representation Agreements will be the removal of the requirement to consult a lawyer for Agreements covering all health and personal care matters, including the refusal of life support.
This means the Representation
Agreement Resource Centre (RARC) will be able to help people make their own Agreements.
The changes brought about by Bill
29 are not yet in effect; they will come into effect over the next year. You can keep in contact with the RARC for up-to-date information. The changes are not expected to affect Representation
Agreements currently in place. They simply ensure that making Agreements in the future will be easier. You don’t have to wait to learn about Representation
Agreements or to make one. The RARC can help you now and will provide you with updated forms when the changes come into effect in the future. Please contact us at 411 Dunsmuir Street,
Vancouver. Tel 604-408-7414; fax 604-
801-5506 email: info@rar.ca, web: www.rarc.ca.
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If you become ill…If you are in an accident…If you need assistance now…
Who will help you:
Pay your bills?
Give or refuse consent for medical care?
Make living arrangements for you?
A Representation Agreement
(RA) is a legal document that says who you choose to help you if you need assistance due to an illness, injury or disability.
It is your legal plan if you need help now or in the future.
Winter 2007 Transition
21

22
Winter 2007 Transition

COMMUNITY BULLETIN
The Ministry of Employment and
Income Assistance (MEIA) has made some changes to the regulations and policy that cover monthly reporting requirements for people receiving the
Persons with Disability benefit (PWD).
If you receive PWD and there has been a change to any of the four things below, you must report the change to the Ministry by the 5 th day of the calendar month following the change.
To report the change, you need to note it on the cheque stub you receive with your monthly PWD benefits cheque.
You must tell the Ministry if there has been a change to:
• your family’s assets
• income received and the source of that income
• employment or educational circumstances of PWD recipient(s) in your family unit
• size of your household or a recipient’s marital status
1.
If you earn $300 every month through work or volunteering, you only have to report this income once on your cheque stub as long as it stays the same. But if the amount you earn changes, you must report the change, even if the amount you earn is below the $500 earnings exemption.
2. If you receive a one-time-only payment, you must report it. It’s a good idea to tell the Ministry on your cheque stub that this is a onetime payment only. But the following month, you must report that you have not received the onetime payment again otherwise the amount will be deducted from your cheque.
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Winter 2007 Transition
23

24
Here is the full list of recommendations BCCPD made to the provincial government in Who Benefits.
Recommendation 1
That the provincial government work with the disability community to design a new Act governing the provision of provincial disability benefits.
Recommendation 2
Include a Preamble in the new disability benefits
Act that outlines the philosophy behind the disability programs and reinforces the values of respect, dignity and fairness in responding to the diverse needs of individual British Columbians.
Recommendation 3
Increase and index-link all benefit rates to reflect the real cost of adequate housing, food and living with a disability. For example, the PWD rate for a single person should be $1,579 and the
Temporarily Excused rate (replacing PPMB) for a single person should be $1,331.
Recommendation 4
Increase the Comforts Allowance to at least $200 a month for all residents of group homes and health care facilities.
Recommendation 5
That the PWD designation be permanent.
Recommendation 6
Eliminate arbitrary time barriers, including the three-week waiting period, and ensure that procedural requirements do not delay or deny the receipt of financial assistance.
Recommendation 7
Redesign the PWD application form to make it shorter and easier for health professionals to provide appropriate and relevant information about applicants.
Recommendation 8
Reduce the time it takes to adjudicate PWD applications and make disability benefits payable from the date the Ministry receives the application.
Recommendation 9
Allow discretion in decision-making at all levels of the Ministry to assess and address people with disabilities’ individual needs and situations.
Recommendation 10
Everyone with the PWD designation should retain their medical coverage if they become ineligible for provincial disability assistance.
Recommendation 11
Ministry funded extended health coverage must be more widely available to people with disabilities on low income.
Recommendation 12
Replace the Persons with Persistent and Multiple
Barriers to Employment (PPMB) benefit with the
Temporarily Excused category and set the rate for a single person at $1,331. The Temporarily Excused category would provide the same medical coverage and benefits as PPMB, as well as the annual bus pass.
Recommendation 13
Anyone who contacts a Ministry office for benefits must not be discouraged from seeking eligibility.
They must be advised of the possibilities available to them, including their right to Reconsideration and a Tribunal hearing, and given help interpreting this information in relation to their circumstances.
Recommendation 14
The Ministry must be accountable for mistakes and delays that it is responsible for and take immediate action to rectify them quickly and retroactively.
Recommendation 15
End automatic closure of files without a review of the client’s specific circumstances.
Recommendation 16
Reform the appeal process so that new evidence may be submitted at Tribunal. In the case of successful appeals, benefits should be reinstated from the date of the original decision to deny benefits.
Winter 2007 Transition

who benefits?
The disability benefits system is a maze of procedures. This, combined with the long wait to access benefits, speaks of a system apparently designed not to provide assistance, but to set up barriers to prevent access to it.
People making their first contact with a
Ministry office are told that there are a lot of expectations to fulfill before they can receive any financial assistance.
This may include performing a 3-week work search and obtaining bank statements and income tax records.
Ministry workers rarely help applicants meet these requirements and if they are not met the file will be closed.
People who are discouraged from applying do not appear on the record as “denied.”
In many cases, with an advocate’s help, people in this situation are found to be eligible.
Ministry workers will often provide information or options only when a knowledgeable applicant or an advocate knows to ask. Ministry workers must be more proactive in providing information, explaining options and obligations, and ensuring applicants get the help they need.
Accountability is more than cost cutting and the bottom line. It is time to define what accountability in social services really means. If the principle underlying BC’s disability benefits system is, as most British Columbians believe, to ensure a level of dignity for recipients, then every aspect of the system–from legislation to policy to service delivery–must be accountable to that principle. The experience of benefits applicants and recipients is proof that this accountability is unfortunately sadly lacking.
Although MEIA will pursue a person for overpayment of a benefit, people who have suffered an underpayment or been denied a legitimate benefit because of a Ministry mistake do not experience the same accountability. The legislation tends not to allow retroactivity in correcting mistakes that apply to the Ministry–only to clients.
Occasionally, EAWs close client files prematurely, stranding people without support. This means a long and stressful delay in receiving benefits while the person goes continued on next page
Winter 2007 Transition
25

Service, continued from previous page through the reapplication process. And, this is only in those situations where the recipient understands that a mistake has been made and that they may re-qualify for benefits.
Recommendation
The Ministry must be accountable for mistakes and delays that it is responsible for and take immediate action to rectify them quickly and retroactively.
A single person who qualifies for PWD receives a maximum amount of $906 per month. Recipients are expected to budget this amount to cover almost all of their daily living needs.
Most people on disability benefits need funds from time to time to purchase items, such as clothing, health products and furniture that are unaffordable on this very low income.
They also may need funds for healthrelated goods and services.
The current system does not meet the financial demands of daily life that people with disabilities have to manage. Some needs are not covered at all in the existing legislation. For example, if a health item is not listed under the health supplement section of the regulations, MEIA will not pay for it, even if it is prescribed by a medical practitioner. In other areas, arbitrary limits have been set on the amount of financial help that can be granted. For example, the regulations set a maximum of $20 per month that may be provided to a person who has no money for food, regardless of how long they must wait for their next benefit cheque.
Ministry staff at local offices and in
Victoria are no longer able to make decisions based on their knowledge of an individual client and an assessment of their personal needs. The result is the impersonal and unresponsive disability benefits system we have today. Discretion should be built into all levels of the Ministry.
Recommendation
Allow discretion in decision-making at all levels of the Ministry to assess and address people with disabilities’ individual needs and situations.
26
Wallace was living in a BC Housing complex in Vancouver. A monthly inspection found that his apartment was infested with bedbugs. He was told
Wallace that he would have to get rid of his mattress, bedding and any furniture with fabric on it, including his one chair. Because of his health problems, Wallace was unable to physically remove the furniture and bedding himself, so someone from BC Housing did it for him.
As his furniture was being removed, Wallace called his worker at the Ministry office to ask for help. He was told that it was Ministry policy to issue funds for plastic mattress covers to people who had bed bug infestations. Wallace asked for a crisis grant so he could buy a new mattress and chair, but was denied because he had been given $200 to buy bedding within the last 6 months. He was advised to go to a thrift store and buy himself another mattress, even though bedbugs are believed to live for some time in secondhand mattresses.
Without furniture, Wallace was forced to sleep on the floor until he could buy new bedding.
Winter 2007 Transition

Valerie is a 55-year-old woman who has a longstanding mental health disorder. She has been on
PPMB/DB1 for over 5 years. When her PPMB file was reviewed, her new doctor said that Valerie’s medical condition prevented her from doing any kind of work. However, he failed to say how long her condition had lasted.
She was denied PPMB because of the eligibility requirement that a doctor must confirm a medical condition has lasted at least one year. Valerie’s income assistance file at her local Ministry office contained information from her doctors showing a medical condition lasting for many years–which is the only way she could have qualified for PPMB in the past. She had to go through the appeal process before her PPMB benefits were reinstated.
Ang was diagnosed with a severe learning disability and poor mental functioning. He had been receiving PPMB benefits for two years when his file came up for routine review. Ang’s new application was denied, even though it was virtually identical to his original application. The Ministry based the denial on its conclusion that Ang had not taken all reasonable steps to mitigate his impairment and find a job. Ang had in fact made several attempts to secure work, even though there are no employmentrelated obligations for people receiving
PPMB. He attended a Ministry-sponsored job program, as well as obtaining jobs as a cashier and a fast food worker.
Both jobs were short-lived, however, when employers found Ang was not a suitable employee. The doctor stated on the PPMB assessment that, not only could Ang not work, but he had difficulty managing the basic tasks of daily living.
With the help of BCCPD advocates, Ang filed a Reconsideration request and later filed a Tribunal request. At the Tribunal, the
Ministry chose a new approach, arguing that it was the Ministry and not the doctor who determines if a person can work.
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For information on bequests and other forms of giving, please contact Mei Ng tel 604-875-0188 email mng@bccpd.bc.ca
or fax 604-875-9227.
Learn more about us at www.bccpd.bc.ca.
Winter 2007 Transition
27

One of the challenges for a person who receives a cochlear implant is to explain to family and friends what it’s like to hear with the implant–even as the person struggles to understand it themselves.
Those of us with normal hearing can never really appreciate how it feels to live with hearing loss. However, one of the most important ways we can be supportive is to be realistic in our expectations of the technology and how it works for the people who are using it.
A cochlear implant (CI) is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion surgically placed under the skin.
A CI is very different from a hearing aid which amplifies sounds so they can be detected by damaged ears. CIs bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve.
Signals generated by the implant are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain which recognizes the signals as sound.
From the National Institute on
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) http:// www.nidcd.nih. gov/health/hearing/ coch.asp.
A common expectation of a cochlear implant is that switching it on is like switching on a light: one minute you’re deaf and the next you can hear.
Really, it’s more like a sunrise.
For people who use hearing aids, it’s like being in a dark room with only the light of a weak flashlight. They can see some things, but miss others, sometimes stumbling over them, sometimes completely unaware that they are in the room.
For many who get a cochlear implant, it’s like the flashlight is gone and the person is completely in the dark. Even the familiar landmarks are gone.
It takes a great deal of courage to give up that little bit of light.
Reassurance from family and friends is very important. No one wants to be alone in the dark.
Learning to use the cochlear implant is like waiting for the sun to rise. Gradually, the darkness becomes less dense and things begin to take shape–not recognizable yet, but present. As the sky lightens, recognition comes.
Eventually, as the sun actually comes out, details can be seen and clarity improves.
The sun doesn’t rise at the same time for everyone, but it always rises.
Cindy Gustin, from the CI Newsletter, June
2006. Courtesy of The Loop, Canadian Hard of
Hearing Association, BC Chapter, Fall/Winter
2007.
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Winter 2007 Transition
28

Suite 204, 456 West Broadway, Vancouver BC V5Y 1R3
(604) 875-0188 • fax (604) 875-9227 • tty (604)875-8835 trans@bccpd.bc.ca